DEEP RUN — There was no love lost between former conference rivals Richlands and South Lenoir on Friday night.

The foes combined for more than 150 yards of penalties and plenty of big hits — and injuries to accompany them, but it was the Wildcats, led by Jamar Harrington’s 256 all-purpose yards, that came away with a 31-6 win.

After forcing the Blue Devils to punt on the game’s opening possession, Richlands sustained a 22-play drive — taking more than 11:30 off the the clock — into the second quarter before junior kicker Jeffery Tolson gave the Wildcats a 3-0 lead on a 27-yard field goal.

On the ensuing Blue Devils possession, with starting center Wade Wetherington out after sustaining a leg injury early on, South Lenoir quarterback Kyle Huffman received a bad snap the Wildcats were able to pounce on. Four plays later, quarterback Ben Jackson hooked up with Harrington on a wheel route to the left corner of the end zone for the 10-0 lead.

“It seemed like forever,” Richlands coach Justin Snider said of having two possessions for nearly 13 straight minutes.

But, he added, pounding the ball wasn’t necessarily the game plan.

“We weren’t totally sure what we were going to be able to have (with) the way they run their defense,” Snider said. “They do a good job of making you have to think. They move guys around so we weren’t sure.”

The Blue Devils, who held their own through the first half with the Wildcats, had trouble sustaining any momentum as injuries mounted.

“I think, to start out, we had a decent drive ourselves,” South Lenoir coach Ken Grantham said. “It was really a two-possession (game) through the first half.”

During the third quarter, down by 17, Huffman tried to extend a drive on fourth-and-long and ran around the end towards the Richlands sideline. But before stepping out of bounds, he took a brutal shot just short of the first down marker.

The impact forced him out of the game. As a precaution, Huffman was sent to Lenoir Memorial Hospital. He will be monitored over the weekend for concussion-like symptoms. With backup quarterbacks Nick Hunter (leg injury, did not dress) and Hunter Bryan (leg injury, left the game in the second quarter) sidelined, the Blue Devils turned to running back Dion Jones to take snaps.

Down by 24, Jones would score South Lenoir’s loan touchdown, a 4-yard run to cap off a three-play drive. Grantham said Jones had taken limited snaps as part of the team’s wildcat formation.

Harrington led all rushers with 208 yards on 23 carries. He added 48 yards receiving on three catches. Quentin Fenn added 63 yards on the ground, including a 27 yards touchdown in the third quarter.